1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to the field of document storage and retrieval, more particularly to the field of hyperlink authoring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The recent proliferation of Internet web sites has put a tremendous amount of information at the fingertips of anyone with a web browser. Many web sites are made up of a number of pages, each of which includes several links to other web pages, both within the web site and in other web sites, where more information can be found, or another topic can be investigated. These links, or hyperlinks, simplify navigation through the Internet and allow information to be managed in discrete chunks.
However, the fluidity with which the Internet adapts by adding, removing, or modifying web pages makes the maintenance of hyperlinks difficult. For example, a web page may include a hyperlink to a page that is subsequently deleted, making the hyperlink defective. Alternatively, the content of the referenced page may be altered, possibly in a way that affects the interpretation of the referencing page. Such an alteration may be confusing for the reader or embarrassing for the creator of the web site. Although the creator may regularly check the hyperlinks to verify that the referenced sites are still suitable, such a task can become quite time-consuming for large web sites, and is furthermore prone to overlook small changes, which may in fact have large consequences. Currently, it is difficult, if not impossible, to adequately assure the integrity of hyperlinks in a document. For example, as stated in Proposed Technical Standards and Guidelines for Electronic Filing in the United States Courts at http:www.cohasset.comklec_filing/printable.html, current protocol specifically prohibits hyperlinks in electronic filings because of these problems.